The online disinhibition effect is a notable example, referring to a concept of unwise and uninhibited behavior on the Internet, arising as a result of anonymity and audience gratification.
Academia has responded to these emerging trends by establishing domains of scholarly research such as technoself studies, which focuses on all aspects of human identity in technological societies.
[8] Avi Marciano has coined the term "VirtuReal" to resolve the contested relationship between online and offline environments in relation to identity formation.
Studying online usage patterns of transgender people, he suggested that the internet can be used as preliminary, complementary, and/or alternative sphere.
Bloggers often choose to use pseudonyms, whether in platforms such as WordPress or in interest-centered blog sites, to protect personal information and allow them more editorial freedom to express ideas that might be unpopular with their family, employers, etc.
Research from scientists such as danah boyd and Knut Lundby has found that in some cultures, the ability to form an identity online is considered a sacred privilege.
[19] Communication via written media may lead students to take more time to think through their ideas since their words are in a more permanent setting (online) than most conversations carried on during class.
However, the freedom of expression is limited since some university BBSs are under control of the school administration and the identities are related to student IDs.
[citation needed] This freedom results in new opportunities for society as a whole, especially the ability for people to explore the roles of gender and sexuality in a manner that can be harmless, yet interesting and helpful to those undertaking the change.
Online identities may help remove prejudices created by stereotypes found in real life, and thus provide a greater sense of inclusion.
In a review of such a community, Silberman quotes an information technology worker, Tom Reilly, as stating: "The wonderful thing about online services is that they are an intrinsically decentralized resource.
The flexibility of online media provides control over their disclosure of impairment, an opportunity not typically available in real world social interactions.
[citation needed] As McRae states, virtual sex not only complicates but drastically unsettles the division between mind, body, and self that has become a comfortable truism in Western metaphysics.
[33] Van Gelder[34] reported an incident occurring on a computer conferencing system during the early 80s where a male psychiatrist posed as Julie, a female psychologist with multiple disabilities including deafness, blindness, and serious facial disfigurement.
The psychiatrist's choice to present differently was sustained by drawing upon the unbearable stigma attached to Julie's multiple disabilities as justification for not meeting face-to-face.
This example highlights the ease with which identity may be constructed, transformed, and sustained by the textual nature of online interaction and the visual anonymity it affords.
Context collapse describes the phenomena where the occurrence of multiple social groups in one space causes confusion in how to manage one's online identity.
[37] The term was first coined in 2003 by Microsoft researcher danah boyd in relation to social networking platforms such as MySpace and Friendster.
These strategies include using stricter privacy settings and engaging in more "ephemeral mediums" such as Instagram stories and Snapchat in which posts are only temporarily accessible and are less likely to have permanent consequences or an effect on one's reputation.
[37] Given the malleability of online identities, some economists have expressed surprise that flourishing trading sites, such as eBay, have developed on the Internet.
[citation needed][39] When two pseudonymous identities propose to enter into an online transaction, they are faced with the prisoner's dilemma: the deal can succeed only if the parties are willing to trust each other, but they have no rational basis for doing so.
[40] Due to the fact that if someone has a bad online reputation, he can easily change his pseudonym, new accounts on sites such as eBay or Amazon are usually distrusted.
Westfall raises the important, yet rarely discussed, issue of the effects of literacy and communication skills of the online user."
[citation needed] As McRae states, "Virtual sex allows for a certain freedom of expression, of physical presentation and of experimentation beyond one's own real-life limits".
[41] Law enforcement officials often express their opposition to online anonymity and pseudonymity, which they view as an open invitation to criminals who wish to disguise their identities.
It is relatively easy to create an online identity which is attractive to people that would not normally become involved with the predator, but fortunately there are a few means by which you can make sure that a person whom you haven't met is actually who they say they are.
Many people will trust things such as the style in which someone writes, or the photographs someone has on their web page as a way to identify that person, but these can easily be forged.
[citation needed][44] The most vulnerable age group to online predators is often considered to be young teenagers or older children.
[45] "Over time - perhaps weeks or even months - the stranger, having obtained as much personal information as possible, grooms the child, gaining his or her trust through compliments, positive statements, and other forms of flattery to build an emotional bond.
But instead of meeting a teenager, the unsuspecting adult was confronted by Chris Hansen, an NBC News correspondent, arrested, and shown on nationwide television.